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Condensing Gas Furnace: A high-efficiency furnace (90% AFUE or higher) utilizes a second heat exchanger to heat the air from condensed exhaust gases in order to reach higher efficiencies. A high-efficiency condensing furnace requires specialized venting.
What makes a high efficient furnace so efficient?
Most high efficiency furnaces either have two stage heating, two heat exchangers or sealed combustion to heat your air in a more efficient manner. Some of the benefits of a high efficiency furnace include: It costs you less on energy each month. It increases the value of your home.
Do high efficiency furnaces take longer to heat up?
When the furnace needs to bring the temperature up several degrees, it will use the highest setting. However, it will usually just need to use the lower stage. The heating cycle will be longer, but the energy consumption is lower.
Why do high efficiency furnaces drain water?
High-efficiency furnaces have two heat exchangers, primary and secondary. As a result, high-efficiency furnaces require condensate drains because their exhaust gases cool enough to allow the moisture in them to condense from steam into water droplets.
How are high efficiency furnaces vented?
High efficiency furnace venting uses two heat exchangers. This heat extraction process cools the exhaust gasses to the point that the water vapor in the exhaust gas condenses into water. Any resulting gas byproducts are cool enough to vent them outside through a PVC pipe. The condensed water is run to a floor drain.
Is a high efficiency furnace worth it?
One of the top benefits high-efficiency furnaces provide is cheaper energy bills. The high-efficiency rating means these heating systems need less fuel to heat your home, possibly saving thousands on utility costs in the long run. Gas furnaces have a fuel utilization efficiency, AFUE, rating.
Do high efficiency furnaces need fresh air intake?
The architecture of high-efficiency furnaces means that they have their own fresh air intake. This means that they don’t use the air inside your home; rather, they draw air from outside. However, this doesn’t mean you don’t need an external fresh air intake because you’ve installed a 90% furnace.
Do high efficiency furnaces produce carbon monoxide?
Many of the new super-high-efficiency gas furnaces (efficiencies above 90 percent) are also the safest. In addition to cutting your heating bills by 30 percent to 40 percent, their basic design and operation concept greatly reduces the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.
How long do high efficiency furnaces last?
A well-maintained furnace can last at least 15 to 20 years, but completing annual maintenance and being diligent with repairs can extend its life even longer.
How long should a high efficiency furnace run?
With all that being said, if there are no extreme factors involved, the average run time for a furnace is 10-15 minutes per cycle. Your furnace may need to run two to three times an hour to maintain your desired temperature if your home has average insulation.
Do high efficiency furnaces leak water?
Unfortunately, there is one other problem that can cause high-efficiency furnaces to leak, and this one is generally much more severe. A broken or malfunctioning secondary heat exchanger can also cause water leaks. When this is the case, you’re usually only left with one option, to have the furnace replaced.
Do high efficiency furnaces produce condensate?
Plugged condensate drains. High efficiency furnaces produce high amounts of condensation moisture in the exhaust vent, which is designed to run back into and through the furnace in order to drain out into either a floor drain or other approved draining system.
How many rollouts can a furnace have?
A furnace may have only one roll-out switch, or it may have several. The roll-out switch stops the furnace from igniting if a part of the furnace that is supposed to stay cool gets hot. It’s essentially an alarm system that lets you know the flames in your furnace are going places they should not go.
Why do high efficiency furnaces use PVC pipe?
To combat this issue, high efficiency condensing furnace uses PVC pipes to extract the acidic water from your home. These are connected to the furnace and routed out to the side of your home. The venting system is installed at the same time as your high-efficiency furnace.
Can a high efficiency furnace be vented through a chimney?
Furnaces with an AFUE of 90% and greater use special venting material such as PVC or stainless steel. A 90% furnace should never dump flue gases into a chimney. Using an abandoned chimney as a chase for a metal venting system, such as “B” Vent, can be done.
How is a high efficiency furnace different?
What is the difference between high efficiency and standard efficiency furnaces? Standard-efficiency furnaces convert roughly 80% of the energy from gas into heat. High-efficiency furnaces convert 90-97% (depending on the model) of the energy from gas into heat. So basically: high-efficiency furnaces use less fuel.
Are high efficiency furnaces noisy?
Furnace Making Gurgling or Bubbling Noise This noise is more common with high-efficiency furnaces. That’s because they exhaust fumes dissimilarly older furnaces, and the process can produce some moisture. If your furnace is running into troubles discharging this water, it can make gurgling or bubbling sounds.
Are 80 Percent furnaces being phased out?
This is a big change coming in residential & light-commercial furnaces. Effective June 1, 2013, federal law requires that minimum furnace efficiency in the Northwest must be 90%. That means that 80 percent furnaces cannot be installed after that date.
